Dearly Departed
by Kampfer
Summary: Shadow is a well known psychologist who is given the case of a disoriented girl by the name of Amy Rose whose lover left her and she refuses to let him go. Though this case is different from the rest for the psychiatrist falls for his patient, and he is the one who is shown a whole new world.
1. Chapter 1

**_"When something bad happens you have three choices. You can let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you."_**

**_\- Anonymous_**

* * *

The room seemed dark with webs hung on its corners with the smell of dead roses. The atmosphere was gloomy and still as if it had been vacant for many years. Though in the middle of the room was a bed with a bundled covered girl in blankets.

"Amy, the psychologist is here to see you now." says Cream, walking over to the bed and tugged gently at the bundled being.

"Leave me alone." whispers Amy from underneath.

She's stubborn. Shadow took quickly a mental note of that.

Cream glanced over at the psychologist with a doleful expression spread across her face. It was clear this was hurting her. With a gentle nod Shadow assured the rabbit to take her leave and he was to deal with the girl.

At first the young rabbit was hesitant to leave until she looked over the grim environment which made her walk out the door with a final glance back before shutting it and leaving Shadow to deal with her dear friend.

He searched around the silent room for anything he could find useful. Mostly, he was quick to find something but this girl did not seem to hold anything of value to her but stuffed animals that sat all around.

Shadow sat on a wooden chair beside the girls bed and set his materials aside before taking out a notebook and pen and fixed his glasses.

"Amy Rosé," he began, "How are you today?"

No reply.

She's the arduous type. Shadow thought to himself and wrote those words down. Nothing I have not dealt with before.

"I'm okay," she says. "Is what you want me to say?"

Shadow was quick to stop his pen from twirling ink onto his sheet of paper before looking up at the girl sitting on the bed with ruffled quills that covered her face as she stared at her floor and hugged her knees.

"Are you going to talk or what?"

He sight, "It is how you should be." He replied to her other question.

"You're not a very good psychologist." She commented grimly, narrowing her eyes. "Then again neither were all the other ones before you. So, I shouldn't be surprised."

"Don't misunderstand me, Rosé. Grief is a difficult process. I am here to help you deal with your emotions. Tell me how you feel." He began, leaning on his hand. "Talk to me."

Her eyes wandered over to the dark hedgehog with disinterest until she fixated his features and shock manifested itself on her face. She jerked her head up as tears threatened to fall out of her eyes.

Her eyes widened, drinking him in—the man in a grey chequered suit, complete with black shirt, silver tie, the hedgehog. The face of… _him_. No. It couldn't be.

She didn't care who he was, because he was **not**_ him_. She stuck out her chin, glaring. She wouldn't be fooled by similarities or stature. She didn't care he was tall and moved like he expected the world to lick his shoes. She would never lick anything of his.

"Get out." She hissed, turning away. "I don't want your help."

"...Very well..."

The man never broke eye contact, ensnaring her in his gaze. Slowly, he pushed off the chair and moved toward the door.

She froze.

He was smooth water—effortless in refinement but just like still water, dangerous if you couldn't swim. Deadly rips and currents lurked deep below the surface. She squinted her eyes, trying to figure out what made him unlike the others, he was an odd one.

Her eyes flickered back to his retreating form in bewilderment and she found herself reaching out to him. "Wait! What are you doing?"

"I thought you wanted me to apply to your wishes," he murmured.

"I know what I said," She snapped.

Once again, their eyes connected and she searched for the judgement like the psychiatrists before him, but he guarded himself too well. Nothing gave away what he thought.

She dropped her gaze, unable to look anymore. Tiredness descended, and all she wanted to do was sleep—to escape this nightmare.

"Tell me what it is you want," he said, watching closely.

Amy sucked in a breath. "You're supposed to be a psychiatrist. Yet you're walking out already?"

"Tell me what it is you want." He repeated.

"To die." She snapped, attempting to hide her face in her blanket.

"Perhaps you are right."

Amy raised her head and gazed with glossy eyes at Shadow, "What?"

He sighed as he reached into his pocket. "Death. Perhaps it is what's best for you. Here let me assist you." He said.

Amy's eyes widened when she witnessed him pull a knife from his pocket and leaned to the wall. Was he out of his mind? Never did she imagine a _psychiatrist_ to suggest such an act. She shook her head, narrowing her eyes at him. "Get the hell away from me!"

Shadow crooked his head, gazing at the knife. "Is this not what you want? Or were you lying to yourself?"

Amy didn't know what to say to that unless he was going to slip into the same behavior he had a moment earlier. It was obvious that engaging in conversational-sparring matches with Shadow, no matter how innocent, led to dangerous territory and wreaked havoc on Amy's mental health.

"In that case, I'll go and let Cream know."

Amy glared at his back as he moved farther down the door, and at that moment, she wondered if Shadow was insane or simply enjoyed driving her on edge.

The dark hedgehog shut the door behind him as he walked down the stairs to where a worried looking rabbit sat fidgeting with her fingers before she made notice of him and offered a smile.

"Mr. Shadow, did everything go well?"

Shadow was silent as he fixed as he walked straight to the door and turned to her and said nonchalantly, "I believe I made quite an impression on her."

"Oh, that's great!" Cream gleamed up at him with hopeful eyes, "Will you come back tomorrow?"

He opened the door, "Of course. I never abandon a case. Farewell, Miss Rabbit. Until tomorrow." He said, and was gone.

* * *

**To those who read, thank you, and I hoped you enjoyed it. Review if I should continue.**


	2. Chapter 2

**"****You can love someone so much… but you can never love people as much as you can miss them."  
****— ****John Green**

* * *

Only in the solitude of her mind did she truly find peace.

Amy had realized something lately—she was better off when she didn't have to worry about what anyone else thought about her or how she should think about them. Not that anyone really wanted to know about her problems anyway. Sure, they acted concerned, but as soon as she began to talk, they changed the subject, their eyes glazed over. They turned away. Lately whenever anyone asked how she was doing, Amy smiled and said everything was okay. Even if it wasn't.

And it never was.

She blinked her burning eyes and tossed food to the chaos. Chaos gathered around her, eager to be fed. Giggling overlapped until it was one loud buzzing noise in her ears. Bitterness and sadness polluted the air. She hunched her shoulders and lowered her head, trying to get her act together as she petted a chao on the head.

Last night, when she was finally relaxing, she'd found herself replaying the entire conversation with Shadow, trying to pinpoint why it had seemed so unusual. Finally, she had worked it out.

It was because the guy had been acting unusual.

This guy, Shadow, was insane.

It had been subtle, but when Amy thought about the words exchanged, they'd definitely had a maniacal undertone, and that was when she came to her final conclusion. Shadow was a nutcase. He had to be.

Amy couldn't believe that she hadn't realized it sooner. It wasn't like she was a stranger to weirdness, but for some reason, she hadn't seen it right away with this guy.

Maybe she'd missed it because she had witnessed the calm undertone of his form. Or maybe she was delusional and totally off base, and the guy was just a little odd.

_Why else would he be a psychologist? Unless he's a psychotic maniac? But the way he looked me over…it was like he thought I was—sane? _Amy thought.

Well, no matter what it was, now that Amy had her theory, she figured there was no harm in snapping right back. Usually, she kept the charm for jerkoffs, but if it made this Shadow learn his place, Amy saw no harm in it. She was brave enough to speak her mind.

"Hi, Amy, it seems you've finally made improvement with someone!"

Amy lifted her head toward Cream, who was standing beside her, clasping her hands together with a smile across her face.

Choosing to act ignorant, Amy asked, "Oh yeah? With who?"

"Mr. Shadow, your new psychiatrist. Suit, glasses, handsome fellow. Seems to have the world in his grasp." She let out a dramatic sigh.

When Amy looked over Cream's shoulder, she saw that Shadow was actually staring at both of them as he stood by the garden's entrance. He wasn't smiling, and Amy made sure to have a neutral expression on her face as she stared back at the man.

Averting her gaze from him, she pulled her knees forward, embracing them, and placed her head on her knees, then returned her attention to Cream. "What do you know about him?"

"Other than he's the best psychologist in the country and has solved all his cases? He never gives up, at one point even lasting five years with a patient.."

Amy jerked her head back enough to hit it with the bench. She recovered as quickly as she could as Cream giggled and wrapped a blanket around her.

"You're shocked? He's a nice boy. That one comes with one big heart."

_Okay, so nix the self-indulgent theory. The guy must have commitment. Well, I can still work with that._ Amy thought.

"Oh, well good luck with today. I have to go work. See you later!" Cream said, smiling as she waved off and disappeared from Amy's ision.

"Bye." Amy mumbled, looking to the ground.

All she wanted was a break.

"Your friend told me you like ice cream."

Shadow stood proudly in front her with crossed arms and an unreadable expression across his face.

Amy blinked. "Huh?"

* * *

The ice cream parlor was full of energy and glee as the two hedgehogs sat awkwardly at a table by a window. It was if both felt out of place in the new environment. Shadow was the first to break the silence.

"I apologize if I ever made you feel uncomfortable." He actually sounded sincere, _or was he patronizing me again? _Amy thought.

She changed the subject. "So how much are they paying you?"

"That's classified," he said slowly, appearing baffled. "That's not the main focus here. It's you. Cream is doing this to help you."

Amy looked to the floor and quietly said, "Oh."

"I want you to speak to me. You mustn't push those who want to help you away."

"So tell me this," Amy began as she took a spoonful of her ice cream. "What makes you think you can help me?"

"I am Shadow, Shadow the ultimate _psychiatrist_." He declared proudly. "I've always solved my cases."

"You sound self-absorbent." She muttered under her breath.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at her when he crossed his arms and shut his eyes to stop himself from snapping at her. He needed to get her to be open with him. He opened with eyes and glanced at her, "I can be your personal punching bag. You can hit me, insult me, do whatever. Release all those negative emotions onto me. That is until you are able to smile."

"You would allow me do that just to make me smile?" Amy laughed sarcastically. "Why would you do that?" she wondered.

"Everyone deserves a chance to be happy."

Chunks of soft served ice cream flied out of Amy's mouth and splattered against the table as she choked on her spoon. Her psychiatrist words sounded so familiar. She automatically attribute her perplexity to that. "What did you just say?"

"Everyone deserves a chance to be happy."

The way he says it—his calm, gentle tone—sends a strange ripple through her stomach. Wiping off the gob of ice cream from her bottom lip, she turned to search his face, looking for a tell—something to expose his game. Amy saw none. "You're not serious, are you?"

"As a heart attack."

A bubble of panic rose into Amy's throat. "Are you fucking with me?"

He answers with a flat glare.

Amy didn't take that as truth, though. She leaned forward and peered into his face, looking for the signs—the dilated pupils, the bloodshot whites—the traits of a user that she came to recognize was a lie. Nothing. Nothing but crimson-emotionless red eyes staring back at her. She allowed herself a small sigh of relief. At least they're not heading back down that road.

Shadow raised a brow. "Did I say something to disturb you, Rosé?" he said, watching closely.

She shook her head thoughtfully, sitting back on her seat."No. It's just you almost sounded like...never mind."

His lips, smooth and well defined against his hand, twitched. "Very well."

She spoke before she thought. "What's with that accent you have going on?"

Sitting back, he wiped hands on his trouser legs. "What of it?"

"It's interesting." Amy pauses as if searching for the right word. She settles with,"Are you Spanish or...?" she trails off.

"I'm French."

"French? That's amazing! How do you say 'bitch' in french?" Asked Amy, trying her best to make time pass before he asked her questions she didn't want to answer. "I wouldn't mind taking time to learn it."

Swiping a middle fingertip along an eyebrow, he checked the time on his diamond encrusted Rolex. "How about we talk about you now?"

"Well I want to know about you too. For all I know you can be a psychotic maniac wanting to rape me and dumping my body at the side of a road." Amy pointed out.

"Of coarse not." Shadow states nonchalantly. "That would be too obvious. Instead I would cut you into pieces in my bathtub and feed you to some pigs so there would be no evidence."

Amy looked up, wide-eyed, "What?!"

Shadow crossed his arms."I was being humorous."

"You have a sick sense of humor." Amy proclaimed with a disturbed expression. She furrowed her brows,"Pigs?"

"Yes. Pigs eat anything except for teeth. Therefore they would be excellent to dispose of a body." Shadow responded emotionless.

"How do you even know all this?" She asked, setting down her ice cream cup.

"There was a case of a serial killer that killed 76 women and fed them to his pig friends. He only got caught because he didn't get rid of the teeth." Shadow explained. "Pigs eat everything, but teeth."

"Why'd he keep the teeth?" Amy asked, intrigued by the story.

Shadow watched her, acknowledging she was becoming more comfortable around him. Good. He sighed, "He wanted to keep them as a souvenir of all the people he killed."

"That man was insane!" Amy exclaimed with extended arms to emphasize her proclamation.

Shadow leaned back, steepling his fingers. "Lets make a deal." His lips twitched. "Every time you tell me something about yourself I tell you something about myself. What do you say?"

Amy was silent for a moment. This was the twelfth time she was given a psychiatrist to help her, but she wasn't crazy. There was nothing wrong with waiting for her love. He was going to come back for her. He promised. Then again, she had already been a burden to Cream for a long time. Yet she was positive that Shadow would not be able to help her.

The least she could do was play along until he realized he couldn't help her with anything because she didn't need it. She sight, playing with her fingers. Maybe just this last time.

She raised her chin at Shadow who watched her and opened her mouth to speak before she was interrupted.

"Amy! Amy Rose, is that you?" A familiar voice chirped.

Glancing behind Shadow, Amy saw the face of an old friend in jogging clothes. Vector. He hasn't changed a bit. He walked over with a wide grin as he seemed disbelieving at her presence.

Amy stared, speechless, because she'd surely misunderstood him. However, judging by that stupid look, she knew she'd seen him correctly.

"I neva' thought I'd see ya out again! Great seein' ya again, hun!" He said happily as he reached her table.

This can't be happening, She was surely dreaming. _How can he be so calm while I'm dying inside? But I know this is no dream when his only response to my utter desolation is a carefree smile. _Amy thought.

She couldn't believe that after four years, she once again faced an old friend, and a vision of the past. He's got to be joking, because this crocodile who looks like an old friend clearly isn't him. Her friend would never stand in front of her, so distant, wary looking that it made her feel insane.

Vector shoved his hands into his pockets as he gazed at her sympathetically. "I heard what happened with um you know..." he said softly, seeming worried and cautious.

"Don't look to me like that." Amy said too suddenly.

Vector blinked. "How?"

Amy went berserk as she stood and glared at the crocodile. "Like I'm crazy. I'm not crazy and I know what you're thinking. He is coming back. He'll come back for me!" she shouted.

Vector's eyes widen as he stumbled back with raised hands. "Whoa, take it easy, hun! I was just askin'."

"You're here to laugh at me. See the freekshow everyone in this damn town talks about. You don't care!" Amy growled with crazed eyes.

The crocodile's eyes softened. "You ah friend of mine, coarse I care, hun... I know that after-"

"Shut up!" Amy shouted as she drove her hands into her quills and yanked at them.

"Stop looking at me like I'm crazy!"

Shadow stood, brushing his immaculate suit and silver shirt. Avoiding the audience's gaze, he said, "Rosé, calm down."

Amy ignored him. "Nobody here understands. Nobody cares. Fuck you!"

A tear trickled down her cheek; she was ruined already.

Everything in the town had reminded her of my love, her grief, her fear and her loneliness. The sadness was suffocating, claustrophobic.

_God. Maybe I have gone insane. _Amy thought as she glanced at all the pairs of eyes that stared at her with shocked expressions. _What the hell happened to me?_

"Rosé."

Her voice shook. "Fuck this... I just want to die."

Shadow's pupils dilated, and a hand shot from nowhere, wrapping around her wrist and twirling her around. They stared nose to nose, him looming in an expensive Gucci suit. "Don't say such ridiculousness. I thought we already had this discussion. Relax. To live at all is miracle enough." He breathed hard with a glare. "Now, I'm taking you home."

Amy relaxed, face full of sad acknowledgement.

The ebony hedgehog looked at Vector who froze at his cold stare and widened his eyes. Shadow fixed his suit and tugged at Amy's wrist, "I apologize for the inconvenience. Excuse us, we must take our leave." Shadow concluded and pulled Amy with him out the ice cream parlor before the crocodile could continue conversing.

Outside, they walked in silence with the stars sparkling above them. Shadow hadn't even noticed that they had been talking for hours. That alone made him frown. He wasted time. Not only that, but she had an outburst.

He hadn't realized that the girl hadn't gone out in a long time.

The whole time they were out they had been receiving curious and shocked glanced from the other individuals. The town was small enough for everyone to know her. They were all aware of her mental problems.

_That crocodile must have triggered an old memory_. Shadow concluded.

Amy stopped walking under a post-light and yanked her arm away from his grasp.

Shadow copied her movements and stood before her, watching her closely to understand her better. But all he saw was a lifeless girl who seemed so lost.

"I miss him," Amy whispered. She knew what it included: fondness, sweet kisses, all manner of things one would do with a love. Smiled with, laughed with, and ultimately memories of the past.

Another rebellious tear escaped, and Amy hated the droplet with everything. It showed how weak she was, how ruined she already felt.

Shadow froze, watching the tear trail down her cheek, tickling heated skin. Eyes flashed to hers, and for a millisecond, Amy saw something human—compassion, remorse, then apatheism reclaimed him and he ducked. His hand swept over her cheek with gentle tenderness, capturing her salty remorse, then caressed her compassionately.

Her eyes snapped closed, protecting all facets of her soul. Ten percent wanted him to deliver his mocking—wanted him to be kind and helpful. While ninety percent wanted to stab him with the butter knife over and over, until blood decorated the place.

He released her, trailing soft fingertips through her hair. She swayed, broken so easily, confused completely.

She shivered. "You think I'm insane too, don't you?"

He paused. "Aren't we all?"

* * *

**So sad. Amy misses her lover, but he's abandoned her and she won't accept it... **

**Thanks for reading, if you have any questions or are confused feel free to ask!**


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